


What Makes a Hero

by tony_octopus



Category: New Avengers (Comics), Young Avengers
Genre: Domestic, F/M, Family, Gen, M/M, Mentions of homophobia, New Avengers spoilers, mentions of alien biology
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-14
Updated: 2016-02-14
Packaged: 2018-05-20 10:18:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6002197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tony_octopus/pseuds/tony_octopus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Billy goes to fetch his daughter from school he expects a cheerful retelling of the day's events, not a crushing hug and forlorn silence.<br/>About the different forms of family and that they're all valid.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What Makes a Hero

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LadyArrowhead](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyArrowhead/gifts).



> A Valentine's present for the amazing RenaLanfordGirl. Since our boys finally got their happy ending, I felt like Katie needed some screen time of her own.

“Daddy!”

No matter how many screaming children there were in the school courtyard, he’d always be able to pick this one out of any crowd. Billy let out a quiet “oof” when his daughter collided with him, and reached down to pat the dark head that was now lodged in the general area of his navel.

“Hello, sweetheart. Did you have fun at school?” He expected the usual bubbly recounting of macaroni art projects and playing catch, not for her to tense up and hug him more tightly. Now he was getting worried.

“Do you want to go home and have some tea with me?” Teddy always drank fruit tea when he was feeling down because it reminded him of his mother. Their daughter had adopted the practice even without knowing its significance to her father, and it had the same soothing effect on her.

Billy could feel her nod against his stomach, so he bent down and waited until she had circled her arms around his neck before picking her up. Luckily there was a sufficiently deserted side street not far from the school, so he took the fast lane and teleported them directly into the kitchen of their home.

The room was suffused with his husband’s presence. Teddy loved spending time here, trying out new recipes or refining old ones, the two of them cleaning up together after every cooking extravaganza. Every well-used pot or knife had its place, a row of dog-eared cookbooks sat on a shelf along the wall. Photographs and children’s drawings were stuck to the fridge with colorful magnets. This was home.

Katie relaxed immediately upon realizing where she was, but she didn’t let go of him yet. Still, he wasn’t the most powerful witch alive for nothing. In no time at all there were two steaming cups of tea waiting for them on the kitchen table.

“Tea’s ready, honey. Do you want to get down and have some?”

“No”, came the petulant response.

“No? So you don’t want your tea? Shall I drink your cup as well?”

“No!” There it was, the twitch of a small smile against his neck.

“No again? If I didn’t know better I’d say my little girl has been replaced by a no-bot!”

Finally, a giggle. Katie wriggled in his arms, so he set her down and they both took seats at the table. They drank their tea in silence for a few minutes. In this, she took after him: when she felt ready, safe enough, she would start talking about what had happened on her own.

“Maureen said I was weird today.” She stared down into her half-full cup, as if she didn’t dare to meet his eyes.

He started carding a gentle hand through her hair, not saying anything for now, letting her recount the events at her own pace.

“She said you’re supposed to have a mum and a dad, not two dads. And that you’re not really my parents.”

Billy did his best to keep from reacting outwardly, but it was as if someone had stabbed him in the heart. Children could be cruel, he knew that better than anyone, but for his baby to be subjected to this in grade school already…and because of him, of all things.

Taking a deep breath, he smiled and said, “Well, that’s obviously not true. You know that, right, darling?”

She nodded despondently, still looking down as if she were scared of his reaction.

“You’re our precious little girl, and your daddy and I love you very much. Maureen was wrong.”

“I know”, finally tearful blue eyes met his brown ones. “But why would she say something like that? I thought we were friends.”

He opened his arms and she clambered into his lap, tea forgotten for now. Gathering his thoughts, he took a moment to just hold her as Teddy so often did for him, trying to be some comfort to their daughter.

“You’re such a good girl, Katie. You listen to your daddy and me, and you believe what we say, don’t you?” She nodded against his shoulder. “Maybe Maureen is trying to do the same. Her parents might have told her that you’re supposed to have a mummy and a daddy, and that anything else is weird. Maybe she just trusts her parents, like you do, and is trying to be a good girl, too.”

He fell silent and let her think about that for a moment. He didn’t want his daughter to become sadand angry at the world at so young an age, but he wouldn’t lie to her either. After a moment he continued.

“As for us not being really your parents…even if we had adopted you, that would be as wrong as anyone can be. You’re our daughter, in every way that matters, you hear? But you’re also ours in the same way that Maureen is her parents’ daughter, because your daddy is special like that, little eggling.” That made her smile again, he could feel it. He’d have to thank Tommy again for coming up with that particular nickname when he brought the twins over for their next playdate.

“Some people live in a very small world. They only see what’s right there in front of them, and they can’t imagine that it might be different somewhere else. Maureen’s parents don’t know us, and our family is different from theirs. That might scare them a little, you know?”

Katie lifted her head from his shoulder and looked at him in confusion.

“But if they’re scared because they don’t know you, couldn’t the just _get_ to know you and not be scared anymore? Then you could tell them that they’re wrong and that they shouldn’t make Maureen say things like that.”

Billy couldn’t keep from smiling a little sadly. “They might not want to meet us. Sometimes the fear is too strong to overcome it just like that.”

“You’re not afraid, you’re a hero!” She looked at him with such conviction, it made his heart swell. Moments like this were what kept him going when the dark thoughts crept in and he doubted whether or not he was doing right by her, if he was raising her correctly. She really was the most perfect thing he ever helped make.

“But that’s a big secret, remember? I’ll let you in on an even bigger secret: I get scared too, very often.”

“No!” She looked so aghast, he might as well have told her that the sky would be green starting tomorrow.

“Yes. That’s okay though, and you know why?” She shook her head. “Because most of the time there’s nothing bad about being scared. It makes you careful, and keeps you safe. Being a hero doesn’t mean not being scared at all, it just means doing things anyway. It means giving other people the courage to be scared, too.”

She looked at him thoughtfully, carefully going over what she’d just learned. That was where she was different from Maureen, apparently. She always evaluated what they taught her, asked questions if something seemed strange or was unclear. She was such a bright, curious child, and he loved her all the more for it.

Finally she nodded again. “I think I get it.”

“Good.” He kissed her forehead. “Thank you for telling me what happened, sweetheart. I’m sorry you had a fight with your friend.”

She shook her head forcefully and smiled brightly, determination shining out of her eyes. It reminded Billy so much of Teddy that he smiled back almost automatically.

“Maureen just needs a hero! And her parents too, so that they can be scared and still do things, just like you! I just have to show her how great you are, and it’ll be okay!”

Billy laughed quietly. “That sounds like the perfect plan, darling. Tell me if you need any help with that.”

“No, I can do it, she’s _my_ friend after all.”

“Alright.” He stroked her hair once more, and she leaned into it now, relaxing against him. “Since we’re both home so early, how about surprising your daddy with muffins when he gets home?”

If possible, her face brightened even more. “With chocolate chips?”

He let a slight smirk play around his lips. “I think today calls for double chocolate, don’t you?”

She cheered and jump off his lap, already running towards the cupboard and pulling out bowls with all the single-minded focus of the aunt she was named after.

And if Teddy came home to Billy’s hair color resembling Tommy’s more than his own, well…it was a small price to pay for making their daughter smile like that.


End file.
